Hydrocarbon adsorption mechanism of modern automobile engines and methods of reducing hydrocarbon emissions during cold start process: A review

• Published in: Journal of environmental management Vol. 353; p. 120188
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zhiqing, Zhong, Weihuang, Tan, Dongli, Cui, Shuwan, Pan, Mingzhang, Zhao, Ziheng, Zhang, Jian, Hu, Jingyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 27.02.2024
• Subjects: After-treatment; Cold start; Gasoline engine; Hydrocarbon adsorption catalysis; Pre-treatment; Hydrocarbon adsorption catalysis; Pre-treatment; After-treatment; Cold start; Gasoline engine
• ISSN: 0301-4797; 1095-8630
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120188

With the global emphasis on environmental protection and increasingly stringent emission regulations for internal combustion engines, there is an urgent need to overcome the problem of large hydrocarbon (HC) emissions caused by unstable engine cold starts. Synergistic engine pre-treatment (reducing hydrocarbon production) as well as after-treatment devices (adsorbing and oxidizing hydrocarbons) is the fundamental solution to emissions. In this paper, the improvement of hydrocarbon emissions is summarized from two aspects: pre-treatment and after-treatment. The pre-treatment for engine cold start mainly focuses on summarizing the intake control, fuel, and engine timing parameters. The after-treatment mainly focuses on summarizing different types of adsorbents and modifications (mainly including different molecular sieve structures and sizes, preparation conditions, silicon aluminum ratio, ion exchange modification, and heterogeneity, etc.), adsorptive catalysts (mainly including optimization of catalytic performance and structure), and catalytic devices (mainly including coupling with thermal management equipment and HC trap devices). In this paper, a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis of pre-treatment and after-treatment measures is conducted. Researchers can obtain relevant research results and seek new research directions and approaches for controlling cold start HC emissions. •Overview of control methods for hydrocarbon emissions during engine cold start.•Summarized and analyzed the limitations of pre-treatment during engine cold start.•Catalytic adsorption material is the key factor to after-treatment performance.•Summarized the practical application of hydrocarbon adsorption devices.